Rage Monthly Magazine

By bill biss

Remember when love songs were about more than “me and my humps” or “get you in the club?” Lead singer of the Noisettes, Shingai Shoniwa, guitarist Dan Smith, and drummer Jamie Morrison do. As a trio, they have been making sweet music together for over four years now. Yet, now is the time to really enjoy their sophmore release titled Wild Young Hearts. Crafting an album that is both current and also encompasses the best of sounds from the last thirty years is no easy task. That is what they have done. The mixture of R@B, soul, pop and blues is one that never sounds manufactured or just run-of-the-mill…here is a spark of musical styling that is completely individual in regards to their work. Their current single in the U.S. is “Never Forget You” and Shingai excels in putting her heart on the line with her vocals and creative talents as a writer. The Noisettes have appeared on Ellen, The David Letterman Show and One Tree Hill recently to promote their newest creation. Shingai Shoniwa is passionate about her music, fashion and the whole process of being the next “It Girl” representing the pop culture and music scene. Here she shares some of that passion with The Rage Monthly magazine.

 By Bill Biss

 

Whether you remember Sharon Gless from Cagney and Lacey, Queer as Folk or are just now enjoying her performance on the popular Burn Notice on USA Network, her skills as an actress have been enjoyed by film, theatre and television audiences for over twenty years. Gless is also a strong advocate for gay and lesbian rights and in her latest film role she portrays a lesbian woman by the name of Hannah who is fighting for her rights to see her long time partner who has had a stroke. The kick is they are both in the same nursing home and her partner’s family will not let her visit her long time love, Rachel. Through the use of flashbacks, the audience is able to learn just what made their love so powerful over the past forty years as it is explored in the heartwarming and realistic film called Hannah Free. Sharon Gless is refreshingly honest as she talks about her characterization in the film, her loyal gay and lesbian audience, the early days on the Universal Studios lot as a contract player and Showtime’s landmark Queer as Folk.

 

 

 

 

When I spoke with Leslie Jordan about his role in Eating Out 3: All You Can Eat, he was getting his car serviced.

 

Hey, he’s just regular people! Well, if you consider regular people to be consistently hilarious and able to spin a tale roughly about the size of Texas.

 

Seriously, if there is ever a yarn shortage, one’s grandmother would not need look further than him. However, he is certainly not telling tall tales – he merely tells it like it is as only he can.

 

But, the diminutive thespian is very, ahem, down-to-earth about his stature as a character actor, which enables him to try on all types of roles.

 

Such as his latest one as Harry in the third Eating Out installment, which is a far cry from “Will & Grace’s” Beverly Leslie and certainly does not walk in the same pumps as Brother Boy of Sordid Lives fame.

 

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